Mez Contemporary Mexican Restaurant Review

: The most ambitious of the Chapel Hill Restaurant Group’s eateries, Mez is housed in a "green" building in a Research Triangle neighborhood. The attractive, colorfully painted dining room is the perfect setting for weekday happy hour when you can nosh on $2 tacos with a mojito, margarita, sangrita or sangría, all made with fresh juices. After a few sips, you’ll forget the corporate high-rises outside the window and settle in for a meal of chef Aaron Stump’s sophisticated Mexican cuisine. Stump has a deft touch with specials such as rib-eye steak with an ancho chili rub served with mashed sweet potatoes, a traditional fresh fish Veracruzano, and pork osso buco with collards and hominy corn pudding. The regular menu includes Mez’s signature creamy corn soup, the chef’s unusual rendition of crab cakes (accented with mint, cilantro, chilies and a jícama-mango slaw), and chicken tamales with honey-pasilla salsa and green rice. Finish up with tres leches cake swimming in custard, traditional flan, or mango upside-down cake.